8 Years Apart
by Erroro
Summary: Madelyn would have rather forgotten her sister ever existed, as Neopia had. But some memories are too powerful to be let go.


**Hahaha I can't escape the Xandra fanfiction, can I?**

"Thank you for coming here today. It is Madelyn, correct?"

Every syllable of Fyora's greeting was perfectly enunciated, as if she had been turning over the words in her head. The green Xweetok nodded, unsmiling. Her stomach clenched and unclenched, almost in time with her pounding heart.

They walked in silence, Madelyn's soft steps seeming to reverberate louder in the quiet. The queen of the faeries floated ahead, leading the way up the twisting stairs. She also had an air of rumination around her, like she also dreaded the outcome of this day.

"She barely eats you know," Fyora admitted suddenly. She looked at the Xweetok, pain clear on her face. "Or sleeps. Or much of anything really. She's only said one thing since she's been released." The Queen stopped abruptly, Madelyn running into her. They had arrived at a gnarled oak door, faerie wings etched into the frame.

Madelyn let go a sigh – she hadn't realized she had been holding her breath. "What did she say?"

Fyora turned to face her, looking her in the eyes for the first time since they had met. "She said that she was sorry."

The Xweetok swallowed, and patted down her jade coloured hair. "I'm ready," she said, steeling herself. Fyora smiled a little, and turned the door's handle.

The room was small and barren, more like a hospital room rather than one in the royal palace. The walls were an purplish-pink, with dull tile underneath them. In the corner was a medium sized window, and that's where a speckled Xweetok sat, staring.

A lifetime ago, Madelyn Addison would have run to her with open arms. Now, she saw someone achingly familiar yet unrecognizable. She was young, almost fragile. But she could see in the reflection of the glass, the violet eyes of someone much older, the eyes of someone who stared but could not see.

"Alex."

Those eyes snapped to attention to the window. They widened when they saw the reflection. Was it shock or fear? Madelyn thought long ago she knew everything about Alexandra Addison, but now she could hardly see her through the tabloid pictures and news articles. The years and years of questions, pain, guilt. It would have been so much easier to see her as the world saw her, Xandra, the megalomaniac speckled XweetokXweetok who brought Neopia to its knees.

But the small, childish part of Madelyn saw her big sister.

* * *

"Alex!"

A small Xweetok scurried onto the bed and plopped herself onto the pet sleeping in it, lime eyes gleaming. "Alex! It's morning!"

Alexandra blearily opened one eye. "Too early," she groaned, and turned her face back into the pillow. Madelyn noodled her way under the covers kicking her sister in the stomach during the process. She popped back out, now under her arm. "But we gotta go to school!" she exclaimed, nestling herself into the older Xweetok's warmth.

"Maddy, you have your own bed," Alex said, muffled by the pillow.

"But it's time to wake up! We can't be late! It's bad to be late!" the little xwee protested, prodding her sister's stomach.

The speckled Xweetok turned her head, giving her sister the stink eye. Maddy stared back, not phased. Xandra sighed and propped herself up. "Okay, I'm up. Can you pass me my glasses?"

Maddy jumped up and grabbed a pair of green thin framed glasses off the nightstand. "I want cereal!" she boldly exclaimed.

Her sister rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "Why are you so excited for school anyway? School is boring."

Maddy smiled widely. "I like to see all my friends! And I like reading the books!"

Xandra couldn't help but smile back. She poked the holes where dimples formed in Madelyn's cheeks, much to her sister's chagrin.

"I'll get you that bowl of cereal."

The kitchen was cramped, pots and pans lining the walls with a too large table the centre of the ruckus. Three Xweetok sat at the table. Andrew, a white Xweetok was dressed in a school uniform and hurriedly shoved cereal into his mouth. Their father ruffled the newspaper, waiting for his coffee to cool.

"You finally got her up Madelyn?" Their mother asked, looking up from stirring her tea.

"Yep!" chirped the youngest Xweetok.

Father didn't look up from his newspaper. "You didn't sleep on time, did you Xandra."

"I was busy studying the books Queen Fyora let me borrow. Of course I didn't have time for sleep," Xandra said, grabbing two bowls. "You know," she added, "If I was in Faerie Academy like she said I should be, I could be actually doing magic than wasting my time just reading about it."

Andrew got up quickly. "The volume of this place is going to increase exponentially and I rather would go to school early than be bothered with the noise."

Father folded his newspaper, eyes steely. "Just because you have magic doesn't mean you can give it all up and become a faerie! How many times do I have to tell it to you?"

"I'm not saying that I'm a faerie! But if I have these powers, shouldn't I be using them?"

"Magic is dangerous," her mother reminded, voice leveled. "And it could easily ruin your life. You are playing with fire."

"Magic isn't a game I play! I want to help using my powers," Xandra quickly deflected. "Queen Fyora says that I have so much potential. I should be in Faerieland, with everyone like me."

Her father huffed, temper flaring into a blaze. "You are a child! And more than that, you are a Xweetok! There is no one you need or can help. So why don't you keep your feet on the ground and find something good to stay up and study, instead of playing faerie?"

Xandra got up, making the table rattle. "Let's go Maddy."

Madelyn looked up from her cereal bowl, milk mustache glistening. "Oh, okay," she said, hopping off her chair. She took her older sister's hand and they went out the door.

The moment they were a little farther away, Xandra dropped her sister's hand abruptly. She trembled a bit, and Madelyn saw the grass beneath her feet start to singe.

"Alex? Are you okay?"

Alexandra sniffled looking reproachfully into her wide green eyes. The smoke that had risen beneath her dissipated in the wind. "I-I'll be fine…"

* * *

"This is where you'll be staying?"

"Yep!" the speckled Xweetok grinned, pushing thick black frames up her nose.

Madelyn flopped face-first into the bed. "It smells like cotton candy…"

"Maddy, don't do that, I haven't put on the bed sheet yet!"

The dorm room was cozy, with two barren beds on opposite sides, separated by a blinding fuchsia painted wall. The carpet was pinkish white, fluffy enough to sink into with each step. Xandra's favourite part however, was the oaken desk and bookshelf, with plenty of room for the collection she had amassed over the years.

"Here, can you do the corners of the bedsheet?"

Madelyn scurried across the bed and tucked into the purple linen as tightly as she could. She passed out on the bed with exhaustion, and her older sister laid down next to her.

"Do you… do you think you'll like it here?" Madelyn asked suddenly, turning to her sister.

"I'm not sure yet," she replied.

And as sudden as the question came, so did the younger sister's tears.

"Woah! Maddy, don't cry!" Alexandra said, reaching out for her.

"I just- I just hope you like it!" Maddy choked out through sobs, throwing her arms around her sister. They sat like that for a while, Madelyn sobs dying to sniffles.

"I'm going to miss you," the smaller Xweetok eventually admitted. Alexandra stroked her hair.

"I'll miss you too."

The door burst open and in clamoured the other Xweetok, straining under the weight of boxes filled to the brim with mostly books.

"You packed way too much stuff," Andrew huffed, unceremoniously dropping his weight on the floor. He picked up a book out of the pile. "What in Neopia are you going to do with _Anger Management_?"

"Oh, that one must be for Dad," Xandra said. The rest of the family giggled, much to the oldest Xweetok's irritation.

"I'm mad because I care," he said defensively. "Be careful, alright? I don't want any reports of you setting someone on fire like the last school."

The speckled Xweetok immediately soured. "I was seven!"

* * *

"Hello?"

"Alex! Happy birthday!"

"Oh, Maddy! Wait, it's my birthday today?"

Madelyn couldn't help but laugh into the phone. "Do you even know how old you are?"

There was a pause. "Twenty… four," Xandra replied with much deliberation. "And that means you're almost sixteen. We're eight years apart."

"Hey, you're getting there! Now if you could only remember to call home once in a while!" Madelyn kept her voice upbeat, but some of the resentment she felt shone through.

Xandra said nothing for a moment. "I'm really sorry Maddy. It's just- I'm really busy with my research… and you know how mom and dad can be."

Maddy twirled the phone wire, feeling her stomach drop. "Alex… are you going to visit soon," she asked, already knowing the answer.

Silence hung in the air once more. "Why do you still call me Alex? No one calls me that except you."

Madelyn donned small smile over the phone. "It's just that… the name of my big sister is Alex."

* * *

"Can you _please_ stop calling me? I am very busy, so unless you're more important than Faerie-" Xandra yelled into the receiver, rubbing her temple.

"Alex! Thank Fyora, I-"

The speckled Xweetok's tone changed immediately. "That's not exactly the person I would thank-" she sighed midsentence. "Maddy, now is not a good time, I have a lot of work-"

"No, listen! I found some stuff on those shadow monsters!" Madelyn said hurriedly in fear of getting cut off again.

"On the wraiths? How?" Xandra clutched the receiver more tightly to her ear.

"It was in the books you forgot here when you moved out!" the green Xweetok grinned despite herself.

"Wait, you went through my-" Xandra exclaimed, but stopped herself again. "Never mind, I'll come and pick it up."

"Are you sure? There are a lot of wraiths outside…" Madelyn eyed the window wearily, seeing the shadowy beast circle overhead, dangerously close.

"You underestimate me, dear sister." Xandra smiled lopsidedly. "See you soon."

The speckled Xweetok soon appeared at the door, looking slightly ruffled but ultimately unharmed. However, she was unprepared for a green Xweetok throwing herself into her arms.

"Woah, Maddy!" Xandra laughed, pushing her away. "You're so tall now!" Maddy beamed back, slightly taller than her sister.

"You would know that if you visited sometime," a white Xweetok casually leaned against the opposite wall, glasses glinting in the light.

"Nice to see you too Andrew. Now's not really the time to discuss how horrible of a sister I am. Where's this book?"

"It's here," said their mother, emerging from the living room, her husband in tow. They both slightly frowned, as if taking in the rare presence of their daughter.

Xandra impatiently flipped the book open. "Page three hundred and eighty-four," Madelyn chirped.

The speckled Xweetok scanned the page, eyes narrowing. "Maddy, this is a faerie tale, what am I-"

"Just read it," Maddy insisted, pointing at the page. "Look, it says right there, robbed of their physical forms, they turned to shadow!"

"Okay…" Xandra frowned, reading quickly. _Near the beginning, faeries divided themselves to factions. Light and darkness fought constantly for domination. Great battles waged for centuries, until a faction of darkness defected, and discovered a spell to end the fighting. With a blinding flash of light, the army of darkness fell. Robbed of their physical forms, they turned to shadow. Banished by the magic, the vengeful shadows lurk beneath Neopia's surface, feeding on the misery and dark thoughts of all._

"Banished by magic? But what spell?!" Xandra read and re-read the passage fervently for an answer, but found none.

Madelyn eyebrows knit together. "I hoped you would know," she admitted. "But without the faeries… don't you feel it? The heaviness of the air? It almost like they're sucking the hope out of Neopia…"

"It doesn't make any sense…" Xandra muttered to herself, drawing her paw across the swirling illustration of the wraiths. "How did the faeries…" She shook her head slightly, turning away. "Maddy, I need to go. Thanks for the lead."

Her father stepped between them grabbing the speckled Xweetok's shoulder. "Alexandra Addison, you are not going anywhere with those monsters roaming around!"

Xandra immediately shrugged off the touch, reeling around. "You can't stop me," she snarled. Her father towered over, face contorting as it always did when they got into their yelling matches.

"Look out!" Andrew tackled his littlest sister to the ground as the nearest window to them all broke open, glass shards glinting dangerously in the light. A wraith swooped in, ethereal arms raised, until it was met with a blast of green electricity. The family watched in awe as the shadow faded, then to the small speckled Xweetok who looked wholly unfazed.

"We're being surrounded," their mother informed, after briefly peering out the broken window. "I doubt we have time to escape."

Xandra took a look her family, briefly meeting Madelyn's wide green eyes. "You won't have to, she sighed, rushing to the door.

"Alex! What are you doing?" Maddy cried. To her surprise, Xandra had stayed in the yard and pulled out a silver disk from the book that hung at her belt. Madelyn was half-astonished that her sister would hollow out a book for storage and fully amazed at the branching tendrils of light forming around the house. In the matter of seconds, the light had formed a protective dome around their home. But something was wrong – Xandra had enclosed herself outside the bubble.

"ALEX!" Madelyn screamed, running outside, but it was too late. A single wraith pinned Xandra's arms to her body, immobilizing her. She squirmed and yelled curses to no avail, soon she was surrounded by an army of the monsters

With her older brother holding her back, Madelyn met her sister's eyes for one last desperate gaze. To her surprise, instead of terror the elder's was blazing with a strange triumph. "Maddy, look around! Neopia is changing! I'll fix this, and then- and then everything will be better than it ever was!"

* * *

Madelyn's body felt heavy as she walked towards the stranger in the corner, like it was screaming in protest. When she finally reached the chair, she tried to find the strength to say something, anything.

"Is it really you?"

Xandra's voice croaked out like sandpaper was rubbing against her vocal chords.

Madelyn closed her eyes. "Yes."

The speckled Xweetok got up from her chair slowly, almost without a sound. Madelyn was surprised that she had to look down to meet those sunken purple eyes.

"You-" Xandra's whole body began to tremble, and she looked away. "We- we aren't eight years apart anymore."

After, Madelyn Addison saw her sister crumble beneath her, and let out the ugliest cries she would ever hear.

 **I wrote this in a rush to meet the 800th issue deadline for the Neopian Times. This is the longer version with the changes I would've included if I hadn't written the original in the dead of night.**

 **Also I'm still writing about this stupid character years later what's wrong with me**


End file.
